Portamento is an important traditional technique in cucurbit flute playing. Appropriate use of portamento can make the melody of the cucurbit flute more sung and the expression more delicate.

The performance of portamento is accomplished by the speed of the tone and the speed of the finger movements. It is an effect produced by gradually opening or closing the sound hole with your fingers (moving up or down slowly to the desired sound position), and you can play up and down from the beginning of the barrel to the last sound hole.

Portamento: From a lower note to another higher note, the method of playing is to wipe the fingers from the lower sound hole to the higher sound hole sequentially from right to left, gradually opening each hole . When playing the upper portamento, the breath should be matched, the mouth strength should increase from small to large, the air door from large to small, the tone from slow to sharp, and from thick to thin.

Glide: From a higher note down to a lower note, the playing method is to wipe the fingers from the higher sound hole from left to right in sequence, gradually close each sound hole, and slide down when playing During the sound, the coordination of breath is that the air door increases from small to large, the force of the mouth increases from large to small, the tone of the mouth increases from sharp to slow, and from thin to thick.